A Time to Act

With the global economy in free fall, industrial gasses altering our atmosphere, human population expanding and marine and terrestrial ecosystems unraveling we’re at a historic juncture for the world, the nation and the blue in our red, white and blue.

One somewhat hopeful sign for America’s blue frontier is Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar’s decision to shelve last-minute Bush Administration plans to open new offshore waters to oil and gas drilling, though a long term moratorium on offshore drilling needs to be reinstated. Another positive sign is the expected appointment of Jane Lubchenco to head the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (See Blue Notes #53). The nomination and subsequent withdrawal of Republican Senator Judd Gregg to be Secretary of Commerce, like Bill Richardson before him, had much to do with politics but little with our public seas even though NOAA is the largest element within the Department of Commerce.

Still, I’d suggest to whoever the next Secretary of Commerce might be and to our other national leaders that we’re not likely to see an economic recovery or an effective climate strategy if we don’t pay attention to the role of the ocean.

Healthy seas and coasts are essential to the nation’s economy, security, and stability. About half of America’s GDP is generated in its 600 coastal counties (which are home to $4 trillion of insured property). And to some degree, everyone is at risk from the cascading marine ecological disasters of global overfishing (loss of food security), nutrient and plastic pollution (public health threats), coastal sprawl (increased risk of disaster), and climate change (big increased risk of disaster).

A recent study by NOAA scientists working with their colleagues in Europe found that industrial carbon-dioxide build-up in the atmosphere is likely to result in sustained regional droughts and rising sea levels (and storm surges) for at least the next 1,000 years.

A United Nations convened panel of 155 scientists from 26 countries noted that acidification of the ocean represents an “imminent” threat to the survival of coral reefs, shellfish and the entire marine food web.

“Nobody really focused on it because we were all so worried about warming,” marine scientist Jeremy Jackson told the New York Times, “but it is very clear that acid is a major threat.”

If this wasn’t enough bad news on a week I already had the flu, long-time offshore-oil-drilling opponent Richard Charter was nice enough to forward me a story about how 20 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill key Prince William Sound indicator species are declining, including orcas, whose unique endemic whale language may soon go extinct along with the last local orca families.

The best available science is predicting the worst imaginable scenarios and what’s most frustrating is that although we know what the solutions are, we just haven’t mobilized the political and popular will to implement them.

A Course Correction for the Politics of the Ocean

We hope, that as a result of our collective efforts, including the upcoming Blue Vision Summit and follow-up activities in our home states (and territories), the Obama administration will adopt a White House plan for healthy, sustainable seas. This would include protection of our emerging fifth coast in Arctic Alaska; increased support for regional, state, and local ocean initiatives and a rapid transition from offshore oil and gas to sustainable ocean energy production as part of a well-conceived plan for marine zoning. These are all topics that will be discussed by top national and international experts at the Summit.

Zoning or “marine spatial management” would incorporate a system of improved watersheds and estuaries, offshore shipping lanes and greener ports, wildlife migration corridors, clean energy, national defense and fishing areas, recreational and marine wilderness parks, and other benefits.

Also needed is Congressional passage of a U.S. Ocean Act at the level of the Clean Air Act or Clean Water Act of the last century, in order to ensure that this kind of tidal change is enshrined as the law of the land.

But first there’s the Law of the Sea to deal with. After 30 years of delay, we will use part of our Summit Capitol Hill Day to encourage our Senators to finally ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty this year and reengage with the rest of the world in setting the basic rules for navigation, exploration, and conservation on the world ocean. The Treaty, endorsed by the full range of ocean interests from oil companies to Greenpeace, isn’t even low-lying fruit; it’s on the ground rotting, just waiting to be picked up. A more daunting political challenge for the Obama administration and Congress will be comprehensive management of the 3.4 million square nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone that stretches 200 miles out from U.S. shores.

Still, we’re hopeful that new approaches such as a federal Ocean Act or a White House ocean initiative, driven and monitored by a bottom-up seaweed (marine grassroots) constituency, might yet inspire broad public support to help restore our public waters and shores from sea to shining sea.

As Summit outreach coordinator and coastal paddler Margo Pellegrino likes to say, “If you’re not at the table you’re one of the courses.”

We have to make sure hundreds of ocean leaders are at the table in early March to let President Obama and Congress know there’s a growing national constituency for a healthy ocean and the diverse coastal communities that depend on it. Those who’ve registered so far are coming from 16 states including Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida, Texas and Alaska with the largest contingent from California. To learn more or to register, go towww.bluefront.org/bluevision,

And who’re the big fish behind this Summit?

Blue Vision Summit Sponsors to Date:

Blue Frontier Campaign

Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation

National Geographic

Pew Environment Group

Oceana

The Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation

Ocean Champions

Natural Resources Defense Council

The Ocean Conservancy

Clean Ocean Action

Care2.Com

Project AWARE

The Henry Foundation

The Ocean Foundation

The Baum Foundation

The Nature Conservancy

Environmental Defense Fund

Surfrider (D.C. Chapter)

So please plan to join us. If you cannot make it, pass this message on to your colleagues, friends and other watermen and women and encourage them to attend. Only by joining forces can we truly make a difference in the water and on the shore.

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About Blue Frontier Campaign

Blue frontier has become a national leader in providing resources and opportunities to bring the voice of citizens who care about the health of our oceans into decision-making processes that will positively impact our public seas.